Banner support system

Abstract

A system for supporting a banner includes a body defining an elongate passage ( 260, 260 A) and a secure halyard passage ( 271, 271 A), the elongate passage configured to receive at least one travelling weight ( 256, 256 A) and having a longitudinal slot ( 261, 261 A) extending substantially along the length of the elongate passage wherein, in use, the banner is attached through the slot to the at least one travelling weight. A housing ( 12 ) is positioned at an upper end of the halyard passage, the housing having a recess configured to receive a banner arm ( 14 ) wherein, in use, the banner is attached to the banner arm and retraction of a halyard ( 228 ) through the secure halyard passage causes the banner arm to be retracted into the recess and to be positioned in a predetermined laterally-extending orientation. The body may be a conduit ( 210 ) configured for attachment to a support surface. In another arrangement the body is a multi-function street pole ( 200 A).

1. A system for supporting a banner comprising:
 (a) a body defining an elongate passage and a secure halyard passage, the elongate passage configured to receive at least one travelling weight and having a longitudinal slot extending substantially along the length of the elongate passage wherein, in use, the banner is attached through the slot to the at least one travelling weight; 
 (b) a housing positioned at an operatively upper end of the elongate passage and halyard passage, the housing having a recess configured to receive a banner arm wherein, in use, the banner is attached to the banner arm and retraction of a halyard through the secure halyard passage causes the banner arm to be retracted into the recess and to be positioned in a predetermined laterally-extending orientation. 
 
     
     
       2. A system according to  claim 1  wherein the body is a street pole. 
     
     
       3. A system according to  claim 2  wherein the street pole defines a hollow core and the elongate passage and the secure halyard passage are separate from the hollow core. 
     
     
       4. A system according to  claim 1  comprising a plurality of elongate passages and secure halyard passages. 
     
     
       5. A system according to  claim 1  wherein the body comprises a conduit adapted to be mounted to a support surface so as to extend generally vertically along the support surface. 
     
     
       6. A system according to  claim 1  wherein the housing defines a space above an end portion of the banner arm when the banner arm is retracted into the housing and is in the predetermined orientation, the space being sized such that the end portion of the banner arm enters the space during retraction of the banner arm into the housing and during release of the arm from the predetermined orientation. 
     
     
       7. A system according to  claim 1  wherein the housing comprises a rotatable part that rotates about an axis generally aligned with the elongate passage. 
     
     
       8. A system according to  claim 7  wherein the rotatable part has an equilibrium position and the housing comprises means for resisting rotation of the housing away from the equilibrium position. 
     
     
       9. A system according to  claim 8  wherein the means for resisting rotation is a torsion spring that exerts a torque on the housing, wherein the exerted torque is a function of a degree of rotation away from the equilibrium position. 
     
     
       10. A system according to  claim 1  comprising a secure enclosure located at an operatively lower end of the halyard passage and containing a halyard fastener for releasably attaching the halyard. 
     
     
       11. A system according to  claim 1  wherein releasing the halyard causes the banner arm to leave the recess and descend along the body dependent on a length of released halyard. 
     
     
       12. A system according to  claim 1  comprising a link connecting the banner arm and the at least one travelling weight. 
     
     
       13. A street pole adapted to support one or more electrical fittings, signals, signs, lights, or electrical conduits, and also adapted to support a banner, the street pole comprising:
 a cylindrical self-supporting wall defining a hollow core, the wall being shaped to define at least one vertically extending elongate passage which is configured to receive a travelling weight, the elongate passage having a longitudinal slot open to the exterior of the street pole extending the length of the elongate passage; 
 at least one halyard passage configured to receive a halyard, the halyard passage extending the length of the elongate passage and being separate from the hollow core and the elongate passage; and 
 at least one banner support assembly mounted at an upper end of a corresponding halyard passage, said banner support assembly comprising:
 (1) a rotatable part having a recess configured to receive a banner arm; 
 (2) a mountable part fixed to the street pole, the rotatable part being rotatable relative to the mountable part about a generally vertical axis; and 
 (3) a guide passage extending through the two parts which is contiguous with the halyard passage such that retraction of the halyard through the guide passage and into the halyard passage causes an end of the banner arm to be retracted into the recess so that the banner arm is positioned in a predetermined laterally-extending orientation for displaying a banner. 
 
 
     
     
       14. A street pole according to  claim 13  wherein the at least one vertically extending elongate passage comprises four vertically extending elongate passages equally spaced around the wall, and each elongate passage is provided with a corresponding at least one halyard passage. 
     
     
       15. A street pole according  claim 13  further comprising at least one secure enclosure located at an operatively lower end of a corresponding halyard passage, the enclosure containing a halyard fastener for releasably attaching the halyard. 
     
     
       16. An apparatus for raising and lowering a banner, the apparatus comprising:
 (a) an elongate conduit defining a secure halyard passage, the conduit adapted to be mounted to a support surface so as to extend generally vertically along the support surface; 
 (b) a secure enclosure located at an operatively lower end of the elongate conduit and containing a halyard fastener for releasably attaching a halyard; 
 (c) an arm for attaching the banner thereto, wherein in use the arm is attached to the halyard that passes through the secure halyard passage to the secure enclosure; and 
 (d) a housing located at an operatively upper end of the elongate conduit, the housing having a passage therethrough, wherein retraction of the halyard through the passage and the secure halyard passage causes the arm to be retracted into the housing and to be positioned in a predetermined laterally-extending orientation for displaying the banner.